Boleto

Boleto Bancário, usually just called boleto, is a standardised Brazilian payment slip that dates back to a 1993 Banco Central do Brasil circular setting rules for its electronic clearing. The merchant's bank or PSP issues a document showing a barcode, the amount, a due date and the payer's name and CPF or CNPJ tax number, and the customer pays it before it expires. The BCB now governs the arrangement through Resolution 443 of 2024, participating banks agree the operating convention through their representative associations, including FEBRABAN, and Núclea runs the central database in which boletos are registered.

Payment can happen almost anywhere: banking apps and internet banking, ATMs, branches, lottery outlets and other banking correspondents, in cash if the customer prefers. Since registration was phased in from 2017, an overdue boleto can be paid at any bank. The format has shrunk in relative terms but has not gone away. The BCB recorded 5.67 billion boleto payments worth R$10 trillion in 2025, against almost 80 billion Pix transactions, and FEBRABAN lists school fees, condominium charges, health plans, loan instalments and business invoices among its main uses.

For online sellers the trade-off is speed. PSPs usually confirm payment within one to three business days (Stripe quotes up to one, EBANX up to three), and interbank settlement happens on the same day only for slips paid by 13:30. Expiry windows are short, often three to five days, and unpaid slips simply lapse. There are no chargebacks, but refunds depend on the provider: Adyen and Stripe do not offer them for boleto, while dLocal does.

Boleto suits businesses selling to customers without cards, or billing in instalments. It cannot be used for deposits with licensed Brazilian betting operators, and hybrid slips carrying a Pix QR code are gradually blurring the line between the two methods.